Miriam's Goblet

In a new tradition, many Jews are adding a cup of water in memory of Miriam next to Elijah's cup of wine.

In recent years, we have begun placing two ceremonial goblets on our seder tables: the traditional one, filled with wine, for Elijah the prophet, and a second one, filled with wine, for Miriam the Prophetess. (She is called a "prophetess" in Exodus 15:20.)

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Miriam is a central figure in the Passover drama. She stands guard loyally when her baby brother Moses is set afloat on the Nile, and she arranges for a wet nurse--Moses' own mother--who gets paid by Pharaoh's daughter for caretaking and living with her own child.

Miriam leads the Hebrew people in singing and dancing--the most natural expression of religious joy--after they cross the Red Sea. And she dies by the kiss of God; the Angel of Death, we are told, has no power over her.